Nichelle Takes Her Leave

Thanks for Everything!

The lovely Miss Nichelle Nichols died yesterday at age 89. It has been reported for years that she suffered from dementia and I’m glad that she has been set free from that. It’s how I view death: a release from prison. 

In tribute, I’d like to offer a post that I wrote in 2015. 

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The new Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Beyond, is set to be released next summer. Its trailer was released today [sic].

[Video removed]

I don't think that the trailer betrays much information about the plot, but Trek purists are all in a Twitter, nonetheless. But they will go to see it and so will I. And even if it sucks, I will watch it more than once. There are two reasons for that.

From Day One in 1966, I have been a huge Trekkie/Trekker/whatever. As was so for most black Americans, the presence of Lt. Uhura on screen--not fat, not cooking, not cleaning and not wearing a rag on her head--was very uplifting to me. But, there was more about Nyota Uhura that caught my attention.

The name of her character indicated to me that she was from my father's neck of the woods: eastern Africa. Yes, I used to catch a lot of crap from other blacks for being a real, live, spear-chucking African and Lt. Uhura, as portrayed by the still-beautiful Nichelle Nichols, eased some of the pain of my childhood. I was a smart enough kid to imagine myself as being her Nth great-grandmother. Trek for life, baby!

But, leaving that aside, I like Trek and always have because I care what happens to all of the people set in the Trek universe(s). As a counter-example, I am not a Star Wars fan because I don't care about its characters, as evidenced by the fact that I have never been able to stay awake during any of the movies. Yes, I said it.

Well, at least there's one thing to look forward to in the upcoming year.

AFTERTHOUGHT: I have absolutely no problem with Zoe Saldana's portrayal of Uhura. But if Ms. Saldana were to step down from the role, I think it should be offered to my kinswoman, Lupita Nyong'o--a bit of type-casting, to be sure.

LOL: I had no idea that Lupita was cast in the new Star Wars movie.

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With the advent of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, 22-year-old Celia Rose Gooding has taken over the role of Uhura and I think she’s doing her predecessors honor in the portrayal.

RIP and long live Ms. Nichols!